Lap tray



l, May 5, 1936- c. P. NEATs ET'AL 2,039,922y

LAP TRAY Filed Nov. 19, 1955 W n M INVENTORS Patented May 5, 1936 UNITEDSTATES LAP TRAY

Clarence P. Neats, East Orange, and William W.

Calahan, South Orange, N. J. y

Application November 19, 1935,`seria1No. 50,586

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved lap tray, and has for an object toprovide` a construction which will present a desired support for variousarticles and which may be rmly held on the knees of a person during theuse of the tray.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lap tray having asupporting body and a foldable swinging knee engaging structure adaptedto permit the knees to hold the tray properly in place.

A further object, more specifically, is to pro` vide a lap tray having asubstantially at body with a folding swinging knee engaging member, theparts of the body being so formed as to perinit nesting of one tray inrespect to the next adjacent tray with a minimum of lost space.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a lap tray disclosing an embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through Fig. 1 approximately on the line 22,a pair of knees being shown in dot and dash lines; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through Fig. 1 approximately on the line 3,3,the knee engaging member being folded and a second tray being shown indot and dash lines.

Referring to thev accompanying drawing by numeral, I indicates a fiatsupport having an upstanding peripheral wall 2 which is preferably at aslight angle as shown in Fig. 2. The fiat support I with the wall 2 maybe termed a lap board and when associated with the support 3 presentingthe complete lap tray. The lap board consisting of members I and 2 maybe made of comparatively thin sheet metal, wood or other material of anydesired size, so as to be readily used on the lap of a person. Thecomplete lap tray may be used in automobiles or in the home or otherplaces to support various articles when a person is sitting down.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the body I is provided withdepressed portions Il and 5 which are depressed to a distance less thanthe height of the wall 2 so that a desired nesting may be secured whenseveral are to be stored together. When using the device as means forsupporting food, one or more cups of coffee or other liquid may beplaced in the recesses or depressed portions 4 and 5 and other articlesof food placed directly on the remaining part oi the body I. While onlytwo depressions have been shown in the accompanying drawing, it will beevident that one might be used or more than two without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. These depressions are desirable or holdingglasses or cups containing liquid whereby they are prevented fromsliding over the surface of body I when the same is arranged at aslightangle.

On the under surface of the body near one edge are arranged the straps 6and 1 into which the ends 8 and 9 of the support 3 rotatably fit. Thesupport 3 may be made out of metal or other material in any desiredshape or cross section, but preferably is made from round wire of arather heavy gage as, for instance, wire of one-fourth of an inch indiameter. This wire is bent to form the journal members and 9 whichmerge into the side bars I0 and II which when in use extend almost in avertical plane which are bent at the points I2 and I3 so as to form theinclined inner side bars I4 and I5. The bars I4and I5 are connected by atop section I5 whichrests on top of the knees or legs when the device isin use.

The slant of the inclined bars I4 and I5 are such that the legs may begiven a tendency to move apart when the device is moved and therebyinterlocked to a certain extent with the depending portions of thesupport 3. The depending portions of the support 3 consist on one sideof bars I0, I2 and I4 and on the other side of bars II, I3 and I5. Ifthe diameter of the Wire of which support 3 is made is one-fourth of aninch then the depressions 4 and 5 may be one-fourth of an inch or less,so that when the support 3 is folded flatwise against the bottom of thebody l it will be slightly above the bottom of the depressions 4 and 5,which bottom is preferably on a level with the lowermost points ofstraps 6 and I when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2.

Where there are two or more lap trays of the kind described they may benested as indicated in full and dotted lines in Fig. 3. It will be notedthat the depressed portims 4 and 5, straps 6 and 'I and support 3 willall be positioned below the upper edge of wall 2 and part of thesuperposed tray also below the upper edge of wall 2. It will also beevident that the height of wall 2 may vary as may be desired and whenvaried so as to be lower the depressions 4 and 5 should be of less depththan the straps 6 and 'l and should extend downwardly to a less extentso as to permit ready nesting as shown in Fig. 3.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, all the parts are made of metalbut, if desired, all the parts could be made of other material or partcould be made of wood or other material and the remaining parts ofmetal. For instance, the body I with its wall 2 could be made of woodand the support 3 with straps 6 and 'I made of metal.

We claim:

1. A metallic lap tray formed with a at sheet metal body having a turnedup periphery presenting an upstanding wall at the perimeter Vof the bodyand a depressed portion adapted to hold an article, said depressedportion extending below the bottom surface of said body, a` pair ofhinge straps connected to said body near two of the edges, said hingestraps extending downwardly to approximately the lower surface of saiddepressed portion and a metallic support having journal members ttingwithin said straps, said journal members merging into the spaceddepending leg members and said leg members in turn merging into aconnecting stiilening bar.

2. A lap tray formed with a iiat sheet body having a depression near oneedge, they material forming said depression extending an appreciabledistance below the lower surface of said body.

and a support hingedly connected with said body, said support includinga rod bent at its ends to present journal members merging into legengaging members, each of said vleg engaging members having asubstantially straight section and a section inclined outwardly so thatthe lower end of said leg engaging members in a limited sense hook underthe legs of a person using the tray, said support also having a barextending from the top of the inclined section oi'v one leg engagingmember to the top of the inclined section oi' the other leg engagingmember so that the legs of a person using the tray will engage said barand be spaced from said body, the material of said support being oi athickness whereby the support may be swung against the bottom of saidbody and not extend below the material forming said depression.

CLARENCE P. NEATS.

WILLIAM W. CALAHAN.

